Cooking for two

I don't recall just when it began, but I am the principal cook in our family of two. It is incumbent on me to decide what we're having, when it will be served, and, finally, to prepare it. In self defense I have come up with some standards and some "quick fix" meals that are our staples.

BAKED CHICKEN BREASTS WITH SHERRY AND CHUTNEY

I get frozen skinless, boneless, chicken breasts at CostCo. They come individually wrapped, and it seems like they will keep forever. I place three breasts, still frozen in a pyrex (oven-proof glass) dish. I add a 1/4 cup of cooking (cheap) sherry and place a teaspoon of Sharwood's Major Grey Chutney on each breast. Cover with aluminum foil and place in an oven set to 350 degrees. I never preheat. Cook for 50 minutes to 1 hour depending on the size of the breasts. After 1/2 hour, turn the breasts once. At this time I usually put on some rice (1 cup water, pinch of salt, dash of olive oil, bring to a boil, add 1/2 cup rice, cover and simmer for 22 minutes). During the last five minutes, I may also steam some vegetables, usually broccoli, asparagus, or zuccini. Sometimes I toss some raisins in with rice before covering.

FAJITAS DE JOSE

About a day later, I use the left over chicken in a "single pot" dish of my own concoction. In a large skillet I saute one chopped onion, one chopped green bell pepper and one chopped red bell pepper in 3 tbsps of canola oil. I season the vegetables with Mexican seasoning. When the onions are transparent and the bell peppers limp, I add the left over chicken, sliced as thin as possible. I try to heat each slice. If the pan is too dry, I may add some more oil. While the chicken and vegetables simmer, I put a couple of flour tortillas between paper towels and warm them in the microwave (45-50 seconds on high for 3 tortillas). A serving consists of a tortilla, salsa, the chicken vegetable mix, cheese, sour cream and jalapenos (optional). You can roll the fajitas up in the tortilla and eat like a taco, or layer the fixings on a tortilla like a tostada.

GRUEL

Ever have one of those nights when you just don't feel like cooking? Maybe it has gotten late and you don't want to go to the trouble of dragging out pots and pans and fixings. I evolved a dish that our family calls "gruel" after the famous dish from Oliver Twist.

I start with a can of Campbell's Chicken with rice condensed soup. Place in a pot and add one can of water. Bring to a boil, then add 1/2 cup of rice. If we didn't finish the fajitas the previous night, then what's left also goes in the pot. Or you can add a small can of chicken. Simmer for 22 minutes and serve. You can garnish with parmesan cheese (the powdery not shredded kind), jalapenos, or (ugh) ketchup.

JOE'S CHILI POT

Here's one for the weekend using a slow cooker (crockpot). Just toss these ingredients into the crock pot: one jar of your favorite salsa, two cans of diced tomatoes (drained) and two cans of kidney beans (drained). I think the can size is 15 oz. but each one is about two cups. Turn the slow cooker on low. Brown a package (1.25 pounds) of lean ground turkey. You can use beef if you prefer, but the turkey helps to keep the calories down. You can season the cooked turkey with Mexican seasoning, or toss in a packet of Shilling (or other) chili mix. Careful though, depending on the heat in your salsa, if you add too much it might not be palatable. Drain off any liquid and add the turkey to the slow cooker. Cook on low for three hours or on high for one hour and low for one hour. Serve with graded cheese, sour cream and tortillas or corn bread.

Summer Soldiers and Sunshine Patriots

I regularly correspond with a former high school sweetheart (we are both deep into our 60's now). She frequently forwards to me email she has received from others. From time to time I have taken issue with some of the sentiments expressed (generally very conservative, preachy, flag-waving stuff). In a recent email she forwarded me an allegedly true story of a K-9 (soldier dog) who had dramatically rescued a squad of soldiers and received a Congressional Medal of Honor. My first reaction was to google the story, find the report to be a hoax, and send an note back to my friend. She apologized and said she forgot that she needed to review such matters to make sure she did not send me anything political or patriotic.

I sensed that I was offended by that remark, what, me not patriotic? I wore a uniform of the US for four years, my father served before me, and a son and grandson after me. I stand (though do not participate in) the pledge of allegiance to the flag (but that is another story). I feel that I am very patriotic, although I am 100% opposed to the present administration's unwarranted attack on and occupation of another soverign nation that did not attack us first.

I began to wonder what makes a person a patriot and can someone, like myself, who is opposed to the unjustified use of military force, still be a patriot. Once again I turned to Thomas Paine, this time in one of his pamphlets The Crisis, written during the War of Independence. His immortal words beginning "These are the times that try men's souls. . . " He talked of summer soldiers and sunshine patriots, he meant people who talked a good fight, but could not be counted on when the going gets rough. So does that equal "my country, right or wrong, my country;" or "stay the course" even if the course was ill-advised in the first place?

I found this article, Beware the Sunshine Patriot, by Steve Kubby, written shortly after 9/11. The article rings true and parallels my take on patriotism and the duty to stand for the highest ideals on which our country was founded.

Freethinking

Watched a great show on Bill Moyer's Journal the other night. One of his guests, Susan Jacoby, was reviewing her latest book about the dumbing down of America. During the conversation with Bill, they also discussed her earlier book, "The Freethinkers." The book is basically about the manner in which the U.S. as a nation was created a secular government. That means (1) no oaths need be sworn nor faith professed to hold any office and (2) that the government may not establish (or support) nor prohibit the practice of any religion. The battle between those professing religious beliefs (primarily Protestant in the early days, Catholics in the first half of the last century, and evangelical christians in the modern era) and those identifying themselves as "freethinkers" (deists, unitarians, agnostics, athiests or simply "non-believers) has been going on since the country was founded. Most people will readily acknowledge that the majority of citizens in the U.S. identify with some adjunct of the Christian faith. Thus, in truth, we could be said to be a "nation of Christians." But Jacoby holds, and I agree, we are not and never have been a "Christian nation."

Reading Jacoby, I was reminded of the writings of Thomas Paine, one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and Bill of Rights. Paine was also a "freethinker" and wrote a treatise entitled "The Age of Reason," that provides the rationale for his beliefs that, while the universe and all that man has come to know of it argues for an unknowable creator, that all religion is man-made and many of its tenants unsupportable by reason.

I was surprised to learn that such thinking was really quite prevalent in the world at that time, and even more surprised when I learned how this founder of the greatest democratic experiment know to man was vilified, falsely accused of the most heinous crimes and almost lost to history by the hysterical rantings of so-called religious minded people.

This has created in me a new awareness of the intentionally secular nature of our nation and the insidious encroachment upon our freedom to believe OR NOT as fits our conscience by organizations who would damn all who do not conform to their image of a "right thinking" person, which to them means only someone who thinks as they do.